Agricultural Marketing at the Ministry of Agriculture in Palestine

-        The State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) conducted a compliance audit of the General Administration for Agricultural Marketing at the Ministry of Agriculture for the year 2017, and the following are the most significant observations, which are self-explanatory:

-        Plant agricultural products imported from the Israeli side are not inspected, as no medical/health screening is performed on plant products to ensure the absence of agricultural pests.!

-        The agricultural quota in its current form is unfair to the Palestinian people, because the quantities of duty-exempt goods entering the Palestinian market do not correspond to the population; the population has increased since the signing of the Paris Economic Agreement in 1994 to the present by about one and a half times, and therefore the quantities entering the Palestinian market do not cover market needs.

-        The agricultural quota has not achieved its primary objective, since importing traders are committed to importing only the agreed goods and the specified quantities, without regard to market and consumer needs; consequently, the prices of those imported goods have remained high, in addition to the fact that importers sell those goods at the same price as domestically produced goods.!

-        The Bureau did not observe any intervention by the Ministry of Agriculture in determining the selling prices of imported goods exempt from duties, where importers control those prices, thereby achieving their private interest at the expense of the consumer’s interest.! (I would like to clarify here that the quota, pursuant to the Paris Economic Agreement in 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, is a set of lists of goods whose types and quantities are specified by the Joint Economic Committee between the two parties, which determines the Palestinian market’s need for goods; its reliance was essentially on the population size at the time it was signed in 1994, and any change in market needs is to be agreed upon by both parties as we mentioned above, noting that this committee has not met for many years, and therefore the market needs remained based on the population statistics of 1994. It is worth noting that the Economic Committee met once or twice during this period from the date of signing until now.. and at the same time, the population in the areas of the Palestinian Authority nearly doubled.. and thus a great injustice befell the Palestinians, as the quantities of goods were insufficient given the population growth, and the prices of these goods remained high... due to the fixed quantities of goods and the increased demand on them with the population increase. - The lists A1+ A2+C with goods numbering 29 goods, 19 goods, and 36 goods respectively ..)!

-        The Studies and Market Information Department’s failure to collect data and information on international markets leaves no room to explore international marketing opportunities and thus does not open new international marketing channels.!

-        The Studies and Market Information Department’s failure to coordinate with the competent department in the ministry to collect information on the size of damage and losses affecting crops leads to inaccuracy in the numbers and statistics available to the department regarding the volume of annual crops and agricultural products.!

-        The Studies Department’s failure to provide daily reports on quantities imported and exported, demand volume, and market conditions to the Director General of the General Administration for Marketing, and instead limiting such reports to submission upon request, may lead senior management to make decisions without consulting those reports, and consequently those decisions—particularly those related to external imports—may be inaccurate.!

-        The absence of evidence that the Marketing Department communicated and coordinated with international and local research and information centers may leave the reports or studies issued by the department incomplete or inaccurate and not aligned with international developments in the agricultural sector.

-        The External Exports Department’s failure to conduct periodic analyses and studies of export agreements for agricultural products and to present them to decision-makers does not contribute to the development of external exports, does not open horizons for farmers and marketing companies to supply and export agricultural products abroad, and does not contribute to the development of the local agricultural situation.!

-        The External Exports Department’s failure to prepare studies on foreign markets to open new markets will result in keeping agricultural exports undeveloped and will not help bring benefit to farmers and agricultural suppliers.!

-        Relying solely on the approval of the Director General of the General Administration for Agricultural Marketing for export requests without obtaining the approval of the Central Export Committee does not provide confirmation of the validity of those requests.!

-        The External Exports Department’s failure to coordinate periodically with Palestinian commercial representation offices abroad does not contribute to opening new foreign markets and keeps trade relations confined to existing markets.

-        Field visits conducted by Quality Department staff to producers and marketers are not documented.!

-        From reviewing all this neglect and laxity among some officials in the Ministry of Agriculture - General Administration for Marketing during 2017, we see that there is a lack of concern in those officials’ assumption of responsibilities in this administration, which weakened the agricultural sector and increased its many burdens, whether in terms of the agricultural quota system, or the high prices of agricultural goods imported through the quota system, weak marketing and low export levels, the absence of adequate compensation for the sector’s crop losses, a lack of real knowledge of the country’s agricultural wealth statistics, in addition to the lack of updating and development to align the agricultural sector with qualitative global developments, etc.

-        The picture appears bleak in several public sectors, including agriculture, according to what the Bureau’s report has disclosed of numerous violations, transgressions, negligence and laxity during 2017, as noted above,.. which resulted in the agriculture sector becoming neglected, and the farmer appearing alone without support and security.!. Therefore, we must follow up on all these violations and not be indifferent to the consideration of the public interest that emerged in 2017, and hold accountable those responsible for such deviations from the rules and legislation regulating public work, and we hope these were corrected in the years following the Bureau’s report!

-        Date 10-11-2021